Four and Twenty Black Birds
by Kraven Ergeist
Summary: Sometime during Qrow's travels, he gets a letter from an old girlfriend. Before he knows it, a little orphaned girl with a strange power has been dumped into his lap. Hijinks ensue.
1. Chapter 1

**Four and Twenty Black Birds**

A RWBY Fic

By Kraven Ergeist

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

After he quit teaching, Qrow didn't make a habit of staying in one place for too long. He didn't have a lot of worldly possessions to his name – the clothes on his back, a few family keepsakes, and of course his Huntsman weapon. So it was very easy for him to pick up and leave when Ozpin asked him to track down leads on the Spring Maiden in kingdoms far afield. His leads had been taking him from village to village all across Anima, giving the bandit tribes a wide berth, while using the kingdom of Mistral as a base of operations. He kept to the lower reaches, out of sight of the headmaster at Haven Academy. It wasn't that Qrow didn't particularly trust Professor Lionheart, it was that he didn't particularly trust anyone at the moment. Besides, if the Spring Maiden were foolish enough to hide somewhere in the kingdom, Qrow thought that she'd at least pick somewhere out of sight.

He should have known better than to answer the door that night. He hadn't been staying in the slums of Mistral for long, barely a week, but already word seemed to have gotten around that there was a Huntsman in their midst. Already he had gotten inquiries from interested parties, asking him to look into some quarrelsome matter or another. He'd taken a few Grimm related cases to secure room and board, but he avoided anything that put him into prolonged contact with anyone in the kingdom on whom his notorious bad luck might rub off.

So when he opened the door after the third knock, he shouldn't have been surprised to see the disgruntled looking face of yet another slum dweller he didn't recognize.

"Yeah?" Qrow asked, giving the man an unamused scowl. He was on about his third drink of the night, and wasn't keen on being interrupted.

The slum dweller was a young man, barely in his twenties, wearing traveler's clothes, a beanie over his head and a sour expression on his face. He looked about as impressed with the Qrow as he was, eying up the Huntsman as though he were a piece of dung clinging to his shoe.

"Are you Qrow?" he asked in an annoyed voice.

Qrow felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. That was the first time anyone in this kingdom had used his name. He hadn't given it to anyone on any of the jobs he'd done around town. No one had made much of a fuss about it, not even and the kindly inn-keeper who'd been letting him stay at her inn, free of charge for his services.

"I might be," Qrow said brusquely, cautiously moving his hand to hilt of his weapon. "Who's…?"

Qrow was interrupted when the man shoved a small envelope unceremoniously into his face. He gave the man a suspicious look, eying the tiny parcel dubiously.

"What?" Qrow blinked at the imposition.

"Just take it, man," the man said, clearly incensed. "I had to pay thirty lien just to catch a ride down here."

Qrow narrowed his eyebrow at the young man's petulant attitude, before finally accepting the envelope with an annoyed huff. He turned it over in his hands, finding it unlabeled and unsealed, seemingly thrown together in haste. Inside was a piece of paper, old and yellowed by time, which looked like it had been crumpled and uncrumpled before being neatly folded so it could fit into the envelope.

He withdrew the paper to find a hand-written message scrawled over the inside.

 _Dear Qrow,_

 _I know you've probably forgotten all about me. Our time together was great fun, if fleeting. I wasn't surprised on the day you left, though I would be lying if I said that I was not sad to see you go._

Qrow narrowed his eyes suspiciously, breaking off from reading to look up at the messenger boy.

"Hey, what's this all…?" he started.

He stopped.

The messenger was gone. In his place was a little girl, maybe eight or ten years old, though it was difficult to tell given how gaunt she looked. She had dark hair and a pale smudged face, wore a threadbare black and white dress, and a pair of old slippers that were covered in dirt. In her arms, she carried an equally mottled rag doll, which she kept clutched tightly to her chest in a protective manner. Her gaze was fixed down at the floor, though she eventually did risk a peek up at him through her black bangs, revealing a pair of dark gray eyes.

Qrow drew in his breath.

"Umm…" he stammered, completely taken aback.

The girl's gaze returned to the floor, and she clutched her rag doll a little tighter in her arms.

Qrow stared at the girl for a moment longer, before sticking his head out the door to find the errand boy making his way down the hallway away from his room.

"Hey!" Qrow called out, ignoring the tiny girl as she shied away from him. "Who's the kid?"

The messenger boy didn't even turn around.

"Your problem now, man," he called out, hands in his pockets, clearly uninterested in getting any more involved. "My job's done here."

Qrow bristled at the young man's cavalier attitude. He was tempted to march on after him to give him a piece of his mind, but hesitated when he remembered the tiny girl was currently standing unattended outside his open door.

Massaging a headache, Qrow let out a low angry growl as she stomped back into the entryway of his room, returning his gaze to the letter. Clearly he'd missed something important.

 _I'm sorry I never wrote to you. I'm sorry about a lot of things. I didn't want you to feel like you owed me anything. You have your own life to live, and I have mine, and my little girl and I have been living happily on our own all these years. But I'm afraid I've run out of time…_

A feeling of dread washed over Qrow as suspicion began to take hold. His eyes darted down to the footer of the letter to find the name of its author.

His arm hung limp at his side.

"Noire…" he breathed.

All at once, the memories came flooding back to him. Before Ozpin had stepped in and changed their lives forever. Had it been ten years already? Team STRQ had been one of the finest Huntsman teams around. Fresh out of the academy, Qrow had been a young and impetuous fighter, full of potential and a yearning for adventure, and he and his team had traveled the world of Remnant in search of that adventure.

He had known even back then that, with his semblance, it would be a bad idea for him to settle down the way Tai and Summer eventually had. He would never wish to saddle anyone with his luck, no matter how lonely it got. But then one day, while on a mission, a raven haired, Mistrali-born girl had come into his life, and he had all but forgotten any such resolve. He had taken a bad hit during a fight with some Deathstalkers. After vanquishing the Grimm, he had come limping to a small, family run medical clinic in Mistral where Noire worked as a nurse. She had tended to his wounds, offered him her compassion, and in the process, had managed to steal his heart.

Noire had been pale, thin and dark haired. When she wasn't in her nurse's uniform, she usually wore black, gothic attire to compliment her ashen complexion. Despite her pallid features, however, she had been a spritely young woman, vibrant and full of life. She often struggled with her health, having suffered from anemia since she was a baby. But she had a great sense of humor about it, and kept her spirits raised around others, especially Qrow. She saw her condition as a challenge to be overcome rather than a burden to be borne, and in spite of all her health problems, she always managed to keep a smile on her face, and somehow found a way to make him laugh with her.

Qrow had known, deep down inside, that there would never be a future for them together, not when there was so much that could go wrong with her health. She was no Huntress, so he reasoned that she would be in no danger from him while he was away on missions, but he knew full well that he was simply making excuses. When a bad cut from a kitchen knife had ended up with her in a hospital bed, Qrow had known that it was time for him to go. Only then would his bad luck not be a danger to Noire.

Evidently, his bad luck had stuck around.

He read through the rest of the letter, checking the back for anything he might have missed. The message only confirmed his fear. Noire was gone. The woman he'd known years ago was dead. All that remained was this lonely, scared, hungry little girl who stood before him, with no one left to care for her but the man least qualified to do so.

Fate was a cruel mistress indeed.

"Hey," he said, sitting down on his haunches in front of the little girl. "I'm really sorry about your mother, kid. She was a good woman. Much better than I ever deserved."

The tiny child said nothing. She only continued to clutch her rag doll to her chest, peeking up at him from behind her black bangs. She looked so much like her mother, the same dark hair and pale complexion, the same dark eyes. She couldn't have been much older than his niece Ruby was now. So young and already so alone.

By the gods, he never should have gotten involved in Noire's life.

"What's your name, kid?" Qrow asked, biting back his bitterness. "Your mother's letter didn't say."

The little girl glanced at him again, a terrified look on her face as she played with hem of her black and white dress. She didn't seem terribly inclined to reply.

"Can you understand me?" he asked, dubiously.

She slowly nodded her head once, but said nothing else, keeping her eyes fixed on the floor. She clearly didn't trust him yet. Of course – what reason would she have to trust him? Growing up in the slums of Mistral had probably been a harsh life. Besides her own mother, it was unlikely that the girl had anyone she could trust.

"Look, it's alright," the Huntsman assured her, placing a hand on his chest. "My name is Qrow. I'm a Hunstman. I was…well…I knew your mother, a long time ago, back before you were born. I…"

Qrow felt himself stumbling, unable to bring himself to put the girl's predicament into words. Noire had been purposefully vague in her letter about some of the finer details, leaving him to fill in the gaps himself. He didn't know for sure whether the child was his or not. But the truth was, it didn't really matter. Whoever this girl was, she had nowhere else to go. Qrow was the only one she had to depend on. As a man, and as a Huntsman, he needed to take responsibility.

"Look, I don't know if I can be the one to take care of you," he admitted, truthfully. "I mean, even if I wasn't a Hunstman, my…well, I'm not the sort of person you want to be spending your time around. But I'll do whatever I can to help you, okay? I'll make sure whatever happens-"

He trailed off, however, when the girl's stomach suddenly let out a rather expressive growl.

Qrow sighed in defeat as the child put her hand over her belly, an unhappy expression on her face. Words didn't seem to be getting through to her, but Qrow had a feeling he knew something else that might.

"Come on inside," he said, standing back up to his feet as he turned and strode back into his room. "Let's get you something to eat. I don't have much, but…"

The room was simple, a single bad with a wooden table and two chairs, and a door leading to a dingy bathroom in the corner. As Qrow sat at the table, the girl still seemed hesitant to follow himself inside. Her eyes widened, however, when he reached into a satchel on the table and pulled out a granola bar.

Qrow smiled tenderly as he held out the snack bar to the little girl. Her grip on the rag doll loosened and she swallowed visibly. Her eyes, which had once been glued to the floor, were now locked on the granola bar, and she was licking her lips as she began salivating, clearly famished.

"Go on," Qrow said, offering it to her. "Take it. It's yours."

She hesitated a moment longer before she rushed into the room, grabbing the granola bar from his hands and tearing into it with all the ravenous hunger of a starving animal.

"Whoa, easy there," Qrow gently admonished with a laugh. "At least take off the wrapper."

It took all of thirty seconds for the granola bar to disappear entirely, before the girl was left licking her lips, her face covered with crumbs, a foil wrapper left crumpled on the table. Before long, she was looking back at Qrow with a hopeful expression on her face, as if expecting another.

Qrow shrugged, reaching into his travel bag.

"Alright, I think I got one more of those in here somewhere…"

He trailed off when he heard the sound of a wrapper being opened, and when he turned his eyes back on the girl, she had a second granola bar in her hands, and was already shoving it greedily into her mouth.

Qrow's eyes narrowed. He hadn't seen her go anywhere _near_ his travel bag. Had he left the snack bar sitting somewhere? Had it fallen out of his bag while he was unpacking?

"Hmmm…" he mused, watching the girl eat, pursing his lips in curiosity. "What's your name, kid?"

The girl still had a mouthful of granola as she glanced back at him.

"Mmmf-hmm!" she offered unhelpfully.

Qrow sighed. Well, at least the girl wasn't mute. Sometimes, in the lower reaches of the kingdom, the unwary street urchin might get their tongue cut out just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a relief to see that this girl, whoever she was, had managed to avoid such a fate.

Still, that didn't answer the question of what Qrow was supposed to do with her. He was a Huntsman, and couldn't really be saddled with a child, least of all now while he was busy hunting down leads on the Spring Maiden for Ozpin. He didn't have any other contacts that he could trust with her either. Taiyang was busy raising two girls of his own, and after what just happened to Summer…

No, he couldn't lean on Tai. Not now.

"Sit tight for a bit," Qrow said, standing up from the table and reaching into his pocket. "I need to make some calls."

As he rose, he didn't pay her reaction much mind, mostly because he was feeling around in his pocket for a scroll that wasn't there.

"Hey," he grumbled in annoyance, checking his other pockets. "Where's my scroll?"

He began rifling through his travel bag, when a tiny voice emanated from the girl's throat.

"Umm…" she muttered.

Qrow turned his eyes up to look at the girl. Sure enough, right there in her hands was the scroll he was looking for.

He scowled as he studied her. She was holding out the scroll to him, a guilty expression on her face, her eyes turned away as if she were expecting to be punished. He retrieved the scroll from her hands, causing her to flinch.

This was the second time this girl had snatched something from him tonight. How had she managed to filch all this stuff right out from under his nose? There was something fishy going on here, that was much Qrow was sure of.

Keeping his eyes fixed on the girl, he pulled up Ozpin's contact info and pushed the dial button.

"Yes Qrow?" Ozpin responded after the first ring.

"Hey, Oz," Qrow said, hearing his old mentor's voice on the other line. "I got a bit of a situation here."

As briefly as he could, Qrow went over the details of the evening's events to the old man, who simply listened patiently. By the time Qrow was finished explaining, he could hear the disappointment in the headmaster's voice.

"I see," Ozpin said calmly. "This will complicate matters. We can't allow your mission to be compromised, but we also can't very well leave this girl to fend for herself either. I'll reach out to some of my contacts in Mistral to see about finding her a more permanent home. For now, the mission can wait. Keep an eye the child, and do whatever you feel you have to do to keep her safe. And perhaps consider making contact with Professor Lionheart. He would be in the best position to offer aid."

Something about that suggestion made Qrow's skin crawl.

"I don't know, Oz," he protested. "I don't think Haven Academy would be the best environment for this kid."

"Now, now, Qrow," Ozpin admonished. "Leonardo is a trusted ally."

"That's not what I mean," Qrow interjected. "Look, as far as I can tell, this kid grew up in the slums of Mistral, her and her mother fending for themselves amongst the criminal underbelly of the kingdom. Do you really think she's going to feel comfortable surrounded by some of the most dangerous fighters that kingdom has to offer?"

Qrow could tell that Ozpin wasn't convinced by his argument, but he didn't press the issue.

"I'll trust you to handle the situation how you see fit," the headmaster of Beacon Academy allowed. "She is in your care, after all."

Qrow ended the call, staring at the screen on his scroll in indecision. He began rifling through contacts, trying to think of who else he could call. He thumbed past Taiyang's number, pausing briefly on Summer's contact info which he still had not removed, before he finally ending on Raven's number. She had stopped responding to his calls long ago, although the line still clearly worked. For the briefest of moments, he entertained the idea that Raven might just come home if she learned that her little brother had a child to look after.

He dispensed with the thought, and returned his gaze to the nameless girl sitting across from him, who was picking up crumbs from her granola bars on the table, sticking each little morsel into her mouth.

She looked completely malnourished. Qrow didn't know how long he'd be looking after her, but if he was going to be her caretaker for the time being, the least he could do was make sure she was well fed.

"Still hungry, huh?" Qrow observed, catching her attention. "Tell you what, why don't we order some takeout? There ought to be some place that'll deliver to this dump."

Qrow reached into his pocket for his wallet to check on his funds. Ozpin had given him a stipend to work with during his mission, but if he was going to be feeding two mouths with this money, then he would need to budget accordingly.

His breath caught in his throat, however, when he discovered that now his wallet was missing too.

"What the-!?" he gasped, his eyes darting back to the little girl in front of him, a scowl forming on his face. "Where's my wallet!?"

The girl's eyes widened in surprise at his expression, before she reached into the pockets of her black and white dress, feeling around before producing a familiar looking leather pocket book, offering it hastily back to him.

"Umm…I…umm…" she muttered, a panicked expression on her face.

Qrow was dumbstruck! He had been watching her like a hawk this whole time! He hadn't seen her move from her seat! There was no way she could have snatched his wallet in the time she had! He felt a little flare of anger welling up inside him at having been duped _three_ times in one night, and by a child, no less!

"You sticky-fingered little…" he growled, biting off an expletive as he stood up from his chair and snatched back his wallet. "The hell kind of game are you playing here?"

She flinched under the verbal barrage, jumping up out of her own chair and backing away from the Huntsman.

"I…I…I can't…" she stammered, hiding her eyes behind her long black bangs, clutching her rag doll more tightly than ever. "I can't…"

Qrow let out a grunt of annoyance as he opened his pocket book to count his money.

It was all still there.

He took a breath, trying to calm himself. The girl had probably needed to pick pockets to keep from starving up until now. All in all, not a bad skill to have, living in the slums of Mistral. It just meant that he'd have to keep a sharper eye on her. He must have just been losing his edge. He just hoped that one day she didn't steal something from the wrong person, or she'd get into some real trouble.

Then again, unless his eyes were deceiving him, she had appeared to be just as surprised as Qrow had been to have discover that his wallet had been stolen.

"What's your name, kid?" he asked, brusquely.

The girl still looked terrified, and Qrow was still towering over her on his feet.

"I…I…" she muttered, nearly petrified.

Qrow let out another breath, realizing just how intimidating he must be to her, before sitting back down in his chair, making himself a less imposing presence.

"Look, just…" he said in a calmer voice, trying to sound as unthreatening as he could "Can you tell me your name please?"

The girl slowly approached the table, not sitting down, but stepping closer all the same.

"M-my…my name…" she stammered, trembling over the syllables. "My name is…M-Magpie…"

Qrow's brow softened.

Magpie. Of course.

Noire always did have a sense of humor.

"Magpie," Qrow nodded, letting out a breath. "So I take it all this sticky-fingered nonsense is your semblance at work then?"

Magpie had no answer, and just looked at him, confused. Apparently she had never heard that word before.

Qrow's brow narrowed.

"In other words," he said pointedly, "You can't control it, can you?"

Magpie's eyes widened in amazement and relief.

"Uh-uh!" she intoned, shaking her head vehemently. "Uh-uh!"

Qrow let out a snort of incredulity. Kleptomancy! He wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't just experienced it three times in a row! It was a _rare_ semblance indeed. A passive semblance, like his own, only instead of giving others bad luck, her power seemed to filch the odd trinket here and there from those around her – which could be considered good luck or bad, depending on the item and from whom it was stolen. And it seemed that the longer she spent with someone, the more items would mysteriously disappear from their possession and end up in her own.

Oddly fitting, given the bird of the girl's namesake.

This must have been why the girl was so down on her luck, he realized. His own bad luck had brought her into this world, leaving Noire with a child whom she was never healthy enough to care for. And growing up on the streets of Mistral, only to find herself burdened with a semblance that had basically sentenced her to a life of petty thievery…

Qrow stared at the girl remorsefully, an ache welling up in his heart.

It was no wonder the child was so fearful. How many times must she have been accused of thievery, while she had been unable to stop herself? How many times must her mother have begged her, _pleaded_ with her daughter to stop stealing things that might get them both into trouble? How difficult must it have been for Noire to hold down a job with a child who just couldn't stop filching things from doctors, patients, friends, neighbors, or visiting family? How difficult must it have been for Magpie, never knowing anyone besides her mother who didn't see her as anything more than a dirty thief?

"God, this must be so hard on you," Qrow intoned, instinctively reached into his jacket pocket for his flask for a drink.

But of course, the flask was missing.

He gave Magpie a sly look.

She flinched apologetically, before reaching into the pocket of her black and white dress, pulling out the flask and handing it back to him, sheepishly.

"Well, Mag," Qrow said, opening the lid to take a sip. "It looks like we've got our work cut out for us, you and I."


	2. Chapter 2

**Four and Twenty Black Birds**

A RWBY Fic

By Kraven Ergeist

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Chapter 2

* * *

Magpie stared at her reflection in the mirror, a stunned look on her face. Her long black hair was washed and combed straight down her back. She was wearing a long black coat that stretched down to her ankles, split down the back for mobility and patterned with an array of pockets, pouches, zippers, straps and buckles. Underneath the coat, she wore a clean pair of gray trousers lined with cargo pockets, as well as a matching gray vest laden with even more pockets over a white cotton tunic. All in all, her new outfit wasn't flashy or eye-catching. But it was _clean_. It was _new_. And it was _hers_.

"Is this…really all for me?" she said in staunch disbelief, turning around in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection.

Qrow had woken her up that morning and informed her that they were going shopping. The two of them had departed the inn, with Magpie freshly bathed for the first time in months, her body smelling faintly of flowers. They were now visiting one of the markets in the upper-mid sector of Mistral, where the merchants and artisans did business, a place she had only ever dreamed of going before. They had been browsing through tents and stalls where the merchants sold their wares, when Qrow had steered her in the direction of a merchant of fine apparel.

It had been a novel experience to be sure. Magpie was not used to moving around other people so freely. Usually crowds only meant that she was fair game for any bullies or brigands who turned her way, and even walking alongside her mother had provided precious little protection when all the eyes around her were usually filled with anger. But Qrow was a taller, more towering presence than her or her mother had ever been, the hilt of a transforming great-sword protruding from behind his hips at all times, the unmistakable air of a Huntsman about him. Walking next to him was like walking next to a lion. Nobody spared her so much as a glance for fear of drawing the ire of the one standing at her side.

It felt…liberating.

"If you want it, it's yours," Qrow said, standing outside the small enclosure in the merchant tent that allowed customers to try on various clothes in privacy. "Get yourself a second outfit while you're at it. Always good to have a spare when one's in the wash."

Magpie felt like she might still be dreaming! Not only had Qrow given her food to eat and a bed to sleep in, but now, he was buying her clothes too! And once he'd learned about her semblance, any scolding she received for any of his possessions that went missing had utterly ceased. At first, he'd kindly asked for her to return his belongings whenever they popped into her possession, but that had soon become tiring to the old man, and after a while, he had simply let her hold onto something of his – specifically his flask – until such time as he had need of it.

She and her mother had fallen into a similar pattern, living under the same roof up until recently. As long as she had something of her mother's in her hands or her pockets, none of mother's other things would ever go missing for as long as she was around. If Magpie ever gave the item back, or if the object ever became "hers" – such as the locket around her neck, which her mother had simply given to her after so many disappearances – then something else eventually found its way into her possession.

It was a frustrating and confusing gift to live with. It had been helpful on occasion, particularly whenever there came a need for pocket change to buy food, but more often than not, she got caught by whoever she had inadvertently stolen from, and scolded or even beaten as punishment. But it seemed that Mister Qrow had also figured this out about her, and had been coaching her to help her work around her predicament was much as possible.

"That'll be sixty-four thirty, Sir," the large, bronze-skinned shop-keeper said.

As Qrow withdrew a handful of lien from his pocket, before the owner began looking around his stall.

"Now then, where did I put those receipt slips?" he mumbled.

Magpie was still admiring her reflection in the mirror when she felt a nudge from Qrow. She flinched, and immediately began checking her pockets. There were a lot more places to hide things in than her old rags – something Qrow had been very deliberate in picking out for her – but she eventually found a bound pamphlet of parchment paper in a cargo pocket in her vest, which must have been the item the shopkeeper was looking for. She withdrew the booklet from her pocket surreptitiously, giving a guilty look to the Huntsman at her side.

Qrow simply gestured at the shopkeeper, who was still fumbling around behind the wooden counter, clearly at a loss.

"I know I had it around here somewhere…" the man muttered.

Magpie cleared her throat.

"Ummm…excuse me, s-sir…" she said nervously, practicing the words Qrow had taught her as she offered the bound booklet of receipt slips up to him. "I…think you dropped something?"

The heavy-set shop keeper looked up from his confused fumbling, before his eyes widened.

"Oh, there it is!" he proclaimed in relief. "Thank you kindly, young lady."

Qrow paid the man and the two of them walked off out into the Mistral bazaar, Magpie wearing her new outfit, while the Huntsman carried a shopping bag containing a few other necessities, such as underclothes, pajamas and a toothbrush for the girl in his care.

"Mommy never got me anything like this before," Magpie said, still enthralled by her new outfit, twirling her arms around as she walked, feeling like a completely different person. "She would always say it was too expensive, but that maybe if I was good, I might get something on my birthday. Are you sure it's alright to get all this stuff?"

Qrow kept pace with her, casting his gaze around for any signs of trouble, as was his custom nowadays.

"Don't worry about it, kid," he said dismissively. "I can expense most of this stuff to Professor Ozpin while I'm out here. But more importantly, you did really good back there."

Magpie beamed at the praise. "I thought he was going to be _so_ mad after I showed him that paper thingy. But instead, he actually said thank you! I can't hardly believe it!"

Qrow nodded, a look of pride on his face.

"People will believe anything if you give them a good enough reason to," he said. "Steer their expectations, make it _look_ like it was _their_ fault for losing their belongings in the first place, and most decent folk will gladly go along with it and let you off the hook without a fuss."

He patted her freshly washed head of hair affectionately.

"Of course, _not_ looking like a ragamuffin probably helps too," he said with a wink.

Magpie's cheeks flared red.

"I'm _not_ a ragama-whatever-thingy," she pouted cutely, stumbling over the unfamiliar colloquialism.

Qrow just laughed.

Their path through the bazaar brought the two travelers by a food stall, where a cat Faunus was preparing something hot and sizzling on a grill that made Magpie's stomach rumble. Wordlessly, Qrow got in line to order the two of them some lunch.

"Whatever you do, don't let anyone see you take their stuff out of your pockets," he continued lecturing as they waited in line. "If you give them reason to suspect you, people will gladly point fingers. Some people may do it anyway, just because they can. So you've got to be ready to come up with an excuse at the drop of a hat."

A group of rowdy laughing kids ran past them on the street. As they did, one boy amongst the group with a mop of messy black hair bumped into Qrow before stumbling past him. Right away, Magpie noticed the boy snatching something out of the Huntsman's pocket.

Evidently, so did Mister Qrow.

"Hey!" the boy yelped as Qrow grabbed him by the arm before she could even blink.

Magpie stared aghast as the Huntsman held the boy's arm, a familiar looking pocket book clutched tightly in his hand. Without even speaking, Qrow slowly twisted the boy's arm.

"Ow-ow-ow- _OW!_ " the boy yelped, before finally releasing his prize.

Qrow retrieved his wallet and let the boy go with a gentle shove, not enough to cause any harm, but enough to get the message across to not mess with the Huntsman again.

The boy staggered to his feet, stuck out his tongue at the old man, before disappearing into the crowd once more.

"Whoa…" Magpie blinked in astonishment.

"You can't plan ahead for everything," Qrow said, resumed his lecture as though nothing at all had happened. "But there's plenty that you can do to minimize the damage when the worst happens. Trust me, I've got a semblance that gets me into a world of trouble sometimes. Eventually, I just had to learn to think on my feet and adapt to new situations as they come up. And you're going to have to learn to do the same."

They were finally next in line at the food vendor, and Magpie could see a tall, thin man with black cat ears behind the counter, wearing a grease-stained apron that may have been white at some point, with several steaming woks in front of him, filled with delectable smells.

"Alright, I'll have two of whatever _these_ things are," Qrow said, pointing to an array of shish-kebab sticks, dripping with fried meat and glazed in sauce. "And something sweet for the kid here."

The man behind the counter plucked two shish-kebabs from the bunch, wrapped them in parchment paper and napkins, and handed them both to Qrow, along with some sort of cinnamon-sugar covered donut stick that made Magpie's mouth water.

Qrow handed her one of the shish-kebabs, and she took a bite of one of the juicy hunks of meat on the end of the stick. It was steaming hot, and she had to wrestle it off of the stick with her teeth, but she eventually got it into her mouth, and began chewing. Despite the overwhelming heat, it was one of the best things she'd ever tasted. Most nights, she was used to going hungry, and what food could be scrounged up in the slums was usually spoiled or rotten. Her mother had tried her best to keep her well fed, often skipping meals herself when times got tough. Having something fresh off the grill like this was a luxury she and her mom had never been able to afford.

Magpie was about to go in for another bite, when Qrow nudged her again. She blinked up at the Huntsmen, he gestured to the Faunus cook with his eyes. She flinched, nearly dropping her lunch, as she began feeling around in her pockets, before her hand closed around a pocket watch, and she felt a familiar lump of dread forming in the pit of her stomach.

It had happened again.

Stealthily as she could, she withdrew the trinket and slowly made her way back to the counter to offer it to the man.

"Excuse me, mister," she said in the sweetest voice she could muster. "I think you dropped this."

The cook looked down at her, his eyes widening in surprise as he retrieved the item.

"Oh, how silly of me," the Faunus blurted in a flustered voice. "Thank you, little one."

She smiled and hurried off to rejoin Qrow as he led her away from the crowded bazaar.

"Good job," he complimented her. "We'll keep on the move, so we don't spend too much time around people if we don't have to. You should get into the habit of checking your pockets regularly, especially if you have to stay in one place for longer than usual. You've got a lot more pockets to check now, so you're going to have to get a sense for how they each feel when they're empty and when they're full. Eventually, you won't even need to use your hands to know when you've filched something, but until then, try not to be too obvious about patting yourself down if someone announces they've been robbed."

Magpie was still focused on getting another hunk of meat off of her shish-kebab with her teeth.

"Nnng…" she tore into her lunch as she struggled to walk and eat at the same time. "Mmm…why did you get me clothes me so many pockets then? It's just more places for other peoples' stuff to get lost in."

Qrow gave the girl a wry smile.

"Because one day, you may find that you want to _keep_ some of the stuff that you steal," he said with a grin. "This semblance is a part of you, and there's no reason you shouldn't benefit from it when the situation calls for it. And should that need arise, you'll benefit from the extra pocket space."

Magpie's eyes widened in revulsion.

"Mommy said that I should _never_ keep what I steal though," she protested. "Even when we really needed it, she would always get really mad when she found out I kept something without giving it back."

Qrow stopped walking as they passed by a scenic cliff-side vista that offered an astounding view of the surrounding countryside. The entire kingdom of Mistral stretched out below them. Magpie couldn't remember ever being so high up in the city before. She felt like she could reach up and touch the clouds.

"Your mother was a good person, Mag," he said somberly. "She probably wanted to teach you to be a good person too."

He sighed, tossing the last of his lunch over the cliff.

"Never forget the lessons she gave you," he said sadly. "As long as you keep them close to you heart, then she's never really gone."

Magpie squeezed the locket around her neck with her free hand. She missed her mother fiercely, but bringing her up around Mister Qrow always seemed to make him upset, so they had both been avoiding the topic thus far.

"But the way I see it, being a good person has to go both ways," Qrow went on. "If your power ever effects good people, then you should do whatever you can to treat them good in return. Give back anything that gets taken from them, and if you can't do that without giving yourself away, then leave whatever they lost somewhere they can easily find it and it won't get stolen by someone else."

Magpie nodded, trying to follow along with Qrow's logic as best she could.

"But don't feel like you need to extend the same courtesy to someone who treats you like trash," he said in a darker tone of voice. "The world dealt you a pretty crappy hand, Maggie, and it's only fair that you take what you can get when life gets hard. So if someone hurts you – or _threatens_ to hurt you, or someone you care about – then you shouldn't feel like you're under _any_ obligation to do right by them, especially if that means putting yourself in harm's way."

She flinched as Qrow jabbed a finger at her chest.

"That means if someone pushes you around or gives you a hard time, and you walk away with something of theirs in your pocket afterwards, then don't stress yourself out trying to figure out a way to give it back," he said forcefully. "Unless of course they get so mad about losing it that it that you think they might hurt someone because of it."

Magpie wrinkled her nose. That didn't sound right at all. Her mother had told her that everyone deserved to be treated with kindness, no matter who they were! That hadn't stopped her from occasionally pilfering from the people that bullied her, but her mother had always scolded her afterwards, and even when she didn't find out, Magpie still felt bad about it.

As her mother had told her, she had no way of knowing who else was hurting. Someone may act badly because they were hurting inside. It wasn't her place to say whether someone was good or bad just from a few bad deeds. And it certainly wasn't her place to make them hurt any more because of it.

"What if…" she pursed her lips, her shish-kebab growing cold in her hands. "What if you don't know if someone's good or bad? What do I do then?"

Qrow smiled wistfully at her. She seemed to have a greater understanding of the complexities of the world than he had initially given her credit for.

"Then you go into the situation with the assumption that they're a good person, and reserve judgement until they prove otherwise," he said simply. "The most important thing is to protect yourself and to stay safe. But as long helping others doesn't compromise your safety, then you should always do what you think is right."

Qrow leaned against the railing, the wind whipping his cape to and fro. He still had the cinnamon sugar covered donut stick in his hand, which he offered to the young girl.

"That's the best compromise I can offer, kiddo," he said, her eyes widening as she snatched the confection from his hand. "Assume the best, but be prepared for the worst."

Magpie simply munched on her donut stick, her taste buds practically exploding from the overwhelming sweetness.

"Mmmmmh!" she exclaimed, closing her eyes. "Wow, this is yummy!"

Qrow arched an eyebrow at the child, suppressing a laugh. She reminded him so much of Ruby in that moment, the two girls sharing an unabashed fondness for sweets.

"Did you hear what I said, Maggie?" he grilled, good naturedly.

She nodded, eyes still closed in blissful rapture.

"I heard you, Mister Qrow," she said through cheeks filled of sugar and dough. "Assume the best, but be prepared for the worst."

The Huntsman smiled, reaching over to pat her on the head.

"Good girl," he said. "And just call me Qrow."

Magpie grinned up at him. She thought maybe she could get used to living with Qrow.

"Come on," Qrow said, standing up from his leaning position. "We shouldn't stay in one place for too long. Remember to keep checking your pockets, and if you find anything that doesn't belong there, leave it as close to its original owner as you can without making a fuss about it."

Magpie nodded, halfway through her donut stick, as she followed him back down the meandering path towards the slums and their room at the inn. She thought that Qrow might have taken the opportunity to continue lecturing her on how to keep her semblance hidden, but he seemed to have said his piece for today.

It was just as well, too.

Falling behind him along their journey down the mountain that was the kingdom of Mistral, Magpie reached into one of her many, many pockets, and withdrew folded piece of paper, revealing a note scribbled in hastily scrawled handwriting.

 _We need to talk. Meet at the usual spot. Come alone. – J_

Mag frowned. She thought she had recognized the boy from earlier, the one Qrow had kept from filching his wallet. He had been hiding his face behind a mop of messy hair, but after Qrow had grabbed him, she had seen his face clearly.

Jackdaw.

She hadn't seen him since their mother died. He must have been tailing her for some time, with nothing but the note in his pocket in order for it to reach her unseen.

"Hey Mag, what's the holdup?" Qrow's voice came calling from up ahead.

Magpie flinched, slipping the note back into her new coat. They had almost made it back to the inn.

"Nothing!" she said hurriedly. "Just counting all my new pockets!"

She shoved her hands into her coat, hurrying after Qrow as she slowly took stock of her situation. She didn't think Qrow would be happy if she told him about Jackdaw just yet. Her mother had always told her that it was bad to lie, but she had never shied away from disclosing half-truths either.

Such as where her father had been all this time.

But now she had a lot of things. A new coat to wear. A warm bed to sleep in. A belly full of food. Her mother's locket, which she wore around her neck. Mister Qrow's flask, which still bumped against her hip from the pocket of her new coat as she walked. And now, a letter from Jackdaw, after she had thought he'd run away for good.

Maybe after he heard the good news, the two of them could finally come home together.


	3. Chapter 3

**Four and Twenty Black Birds**

A RWBY Fic

By Kraven Ergeist

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

Training continued all throughout the week.

Surrounding the kingdom of Mistral was a wide open grassland, ensconced in woodlands and bordered on one side by a winding river and the other by the main road leading into and out of the city. At night, the road was treacherous and the surrounding forest perilous and prowling with Grimm, but during the daylight hours, the wide plains were home to grazing wildlife and provided a tranquil and isolated venue where a Huntsman and his pupil might train in peace.

Sitting cross-legged across from one another, Qrow and Magpie remained unmoving. Sitting in a pile next to them were Qrow's sword, his scroll, his wallet and his flask. The only remaining items on his person were six coins of varying value, scattered around various pockets. So far, Magpie had managed to filch three of them with her power, but no amount of concentration seemed allow her to garner the rest, so long as the first three were in her possession.

"So your semblance seems to have a certain degree of flexibility," Qrow observed, withdrawing the remaining three coins from his pockets. "It'll work on a single item, but if you spend enough time in someone's presence, you can eventually start grabbing more and more items."

Magpie nodded, biting her lip. "Yeah, but I have to _really_ think about it at that point. And I can't seem to get any more than two or three at most."

Qrow nodded.

"You might be able to train yourself to increase your limit someday," he said sagely. "But for now, let's focus on figuring out what those limits are."

The two of them slowly made their way through a series of experiments with Magpie's power – testing the distance at which the effect took place, the duration of time that it took to do so, and whether it made a difference if the items in questions were kept together or separately, in pockets, pouches or in bags. Though it would have been more accurate to say that Qrow was the one going through the experiments, while Magpie kept getting distracted by chasing butterflies and spotting the odd passing caravan that drove by on the distant road.

"Okay, so it looks like your kleptomancy kicks in between about forty-five seconds to three minutes in someone's company, depending on proximity," he observed, pacing as he reviewed his findings. "Your maximum range seems to about thirty feet or so. And it doesn't seem like you can pick which item you're grabbing, or else you'd be going after the higher value coinage I'm carrying, so it seems the items targeted are truly random. It's too bad there's no one else we can test with – I'd be interested in seeing how being around multiple people would affect your power…"

He trailed off when he noticed Magpie braiding dandelions into a woven grass wreath, completely ignoring him.

"Hey," Qrow said sternly. "Focus, kiddo. We're doing this to help _you_ here."

Magpie flinched, dropping her crafting project, and winced under the reprimand.

"Sorry Mister Qrow," she said hurriedly, hanging her head in dismay. "This is all just so _boring_ though!"

The Huntsman sighed, scratching his head.

"It's just Qrow," he said, before walking over to where his wallet was sitting to fetch another coin. "Just a few more things I want to try out, and then we can do something more fun."

He noticed the glint in Magpie's eyes when she saw the coin's value. He'd been using one and two-lien pieces up until this point, all of which the girl now held in her possession to spend as she pleased – part of the bargain for coming out here to train in the first place. But the coin he held now was larger and fatter, and was worth a full ten lien – which by her own admission was more money than Magpie or her mother had usually seen in a week.

"Same deal as before," Qrow said, holding the coin out in the palm of his hand. "If you can snag this from me, it's yours to keep."

Thus far, the number of items Magpie could steal with her kleptomancy seemed limited to three. However, as she had put it earlier, allowing her to keep what she stole seemed to reset the whole process, but it only seemed to work when _both_ parties became aware that the item had been stolen. Her semblance seemed to work on some sort of quantum level, where the act of observing the item seemed to have an effect on its outcome.

Qrow wanted to test this hypothesis.

"I'm going to sit right here," he announced, sitting down in front of her, the coin still held out in his open palm. "So far, you've been able to grab every piece of change I've held within three minutes, so this should be no problem for you at this range. But there's a catch – this time, I'm not going to take my eyes off of it."

Magpie swallowed, slowly shaking her head.

"It's never worked when someone's watching before," she complained.

Qrow pursed his lips, pensively.

"Well, like I said, you get ten lien to spend how you want if you can pull this off," he said, a hint of snark in his voice. "So let's call this positive reinforcement."

This seemed to confound Magpie, but she relented in her protesting and fixed her gaze on the coin in his hand. Patiently, the two of them sat, focusing on the small silver piece. Three minutes passed before Qrow finally called time, and Magpie hung her head in defeat.

"It's no use," she whined. "I just can't do it!"

Qrow nodded encouragingly.

"Don't worry, we're just trying to establish a baseline here, that's all," he said comfortingly. "Let's change this up a little bit. This time, I'm just going to hold the coin in my pocket. I'm going to keep it in my hand, but I'm not going to look at it. Let's see if your kleptomancy will kick in then."

Again, nothing. They tried several variations of the same basic premise, but even after waiting three minutes each try, Magpie couldn't seem to filch this last coin. Even when Qrow removed his hand entirely, and instead, position the coin his pocket in such a way that allowed him to feel the weight pressing against his skin, it seemed that as long as he was physically aware of the item at all times, then it wouldn't leave his possession, much to Magpie's growing frustration.

This more or less cemented the notion Qrow had that something was happening at the quantum level, though of course he was no expert.

"Guess it's true what they say about watched pots never boiling, huh?" Qrow remarked, tossing the coin in the air with a spin before catching it.

Magpie just sat with her arms crossed, a grumpy expression on her face.

"Whatever," she pouted, clearly dissatisfied with her performance.

Qrow had to stop himself from laughing at how adorable she looked in that moment. He was brought back to his days teaching Ruby how to use her scythe. As bubbly and as optimistic as his niece was, she had her off days too, and would often get frustrated at her perceived lack of progress.

"Alright, alright," Qrow said, a mischievous grin forming on his face. "I've got one more exercise for you. It's not really a semblance thing this time, but I promise this time, it'll be a lot more fun."

Magpie was still sulking, but she did give Qrow a wary glance as he withdrew the ten-lien coin from his pocket, her interest still clearly piqued despite her forlorn attitude.

"You can still walk away today with a nice little handful of change," Qrow promised playfully, passing the coin back and forth between both of his hands. "All you've got to do is keep your eye on it."

Magpie did as instructed, keeping her eyes on the coin with laser focus.

Then her eyes nearly popped out of her head when the coin seemed to magically disappear with a wave of the old man's hands.

"What?" she blurted incredulously, completely spellbound. "How'd you do that?"

Qrow gave the girl a sly wink.

"It's called sleight of hand, kid," he said simply. "Anyone can do it if they work hard enough at it."

Magpie leaned forward on her hands and knees to peer more closely at his hands as they waved around in front of her.

"But where did it go?" she asked, dumbstruck.

Qrow shrugged sheepishly.

"Why don't you check behind your ear?" he asked, coyly.

Blinking in disbelief, Magpie started patting behind her ears with both hands, brushing back her long black hair, and feeling around in vain for where any wayward coins may be lying in wait.

"I can't feel anything," she muttered in confusion.

Qrow's grin widened as he reached behind her head and palmed the coin into his fingers, withdrawing his hand to seemingly produce the coin from thin air.

" _What!?_ " Magpie gasped in astonishment, looking at the coin as though it were magic.

Qrow was finding it more and more difficult to contain his laughter. He had pulled the same trick on Ruby and Yang growing up, and the two girls had spent days trying to figure out how he'd done it before they had eventually grown out of their interest in such tricks. It was kind of nice to be able to captivate someone with some simple sleight of hand again.

He vanished and reproduced the coin a few more times, appearing to move it from one pocket to another, and even pretending to swallow it before sneezing it back out. Each little trick captivated her more than the last, as he kept the poor girl guessing as to where it might appear from next.

"The thing to keep in mind is misdirection," he explained, holding up his hand, before waving it in a fluid motion, the coin seemingly appearing between his fingers in a flourish. "If your mark is focusing on one thing, you can move stuff around where their eyes aren't focused."

Magpie nodded, her eyes still locked diligently on the coin.

"Got it," she said.

"It's going to take some work, but if you're willing to learn, then I can teach you how to do some of this stuff," Qrow said, idly twirling the coin end-over-end across his knuckles, before making it vanish once again. "It'll be useful to know this stuff if you want to be sneaky about slipping other peoples' belongings out of your pockets without being caught."

Magpie nodded again, still completely captivated.

"Okay," she said.

Qrow smiled, brushing his hands off.

"Well, I think that should be about enough for today, kiddo," he said dismissively. "Go ahead into town and get yourself something from the market."

Magpie blinked, somewhat confused.

"But…what about…?" she started, clearly wondering when she was going to get her promised ten-lien coin.

Qrow smirked back at her. "Check your pockets."

She flinched and patted herself down, before discovering the wayward coin jingling with the rest of the pocket change Qrow had endowed her with over the course of the day.

"Did _you_ do that?" she gaped at him.

"Nope," Qrow said fondly. "That was all you. Remember - _keep_ checking your pockets. And be less obvious about it, or you're going to attract the wrong kind of attention, alright?"

"Okay," Magpie said, slowly climbing to her feet amongst the tall grass and dusted herself off. "I'll try to remember, Mister Qrow."

"It's just Qrow," he told her, glancing up at the sun as it passed through the sky. "I think that's enough training for one day. Now you run along and have fun. But be back at the inn by nightfall, okay?"

"Okay!" she said, turning to head back

Before she ran off, however, she doubled back to place the grass-woven wreath of dandelions over his head, before leaning in to kiss his forehead.

"Thank you, Qrow," she said sweetly.

Qrow said nothing as he watched her bound her way through the high grass, brushing her hands through the greenery as she made her way back to the city. He leaned back on his arms, leaving the wreathe of flowers around his head, and wondered just what he was getting himself into. His eyes drifted shut as he tried to remember his time with Noire, a fleeting memory of another life that passed by like a dream. He had been another person back then, carefree and ready to throw caution to the wind. Back before he had learned just what a shit place the world was.

Noire had deserved better. Magpie deserved better. But for better or worse, they had gotten _him_ – a ragged old man who brought bad luck with him wherever he went. He knew it was only a matter of time before his luck started rubbing off onto Magpie. He could try to limit the amount of time the two of them spent together during the day, but all that did was decrease the chances of anything bad happening. She was already down on her luck as it was. With a semblance like hers, he could only imagine how his luck might affect her. All it would take was one unlucky break, and this kid's life could be ruined beyond any hope of repair.

Either way, she couldn't stay with him. Not for the long term. It didn't matter if she was his kid or not, no one deserved to grow up with his luck. Qrow would just have to hope that Ozpin could find a home for her, even if that home ended up being with the professor of Haven Academy or something.

For now, however, he was her guardian. And even if he couldn't be around her all the time, that didn't mean that he wouldn't be keeping a watchful eye over her.

Within the space of a moment, he was a bird on the wing, flying above the slums of Mistral. He didn't have to look very hard to find Magpie as she meandered through the streets. No one seemed to take notice of her new coat, as he'd hoped. He'd picked out something in drab colors that wouldn't stand out for this exact purpose. Combine this with her diminutive stature, and she blended right in with the rest of the slum dwellers, especially now that the sun was setting.

She passed by a food stall, selling some kind of fried noodle dish, which she ordered using some of the money he'd given her. She didn't sit down, instead opting to carry her dinner with her in a styrofoam cup. He noticed with a hint of pride that she didn't linger anywhere for very long, just like he'd taught her. Several temptations crossed her path, including some kids kicking an old dirty soccer ball around the muddy streets, making a loud ruckus. But Magpie walked right on by.

After she'd passed them, however, one of the kids playing soccer peeled off from the crowd. It wouldn't have caught his attention, except that Qrow thought that he might have recognized the boy from somewhere. He might have been mistaken, but the way he tailed after Magpie – not close enough to catch her attention, but keeping just within line of sight – looked highly suspicious from his particular vantage point.

He swooped in to get a closer look, and sure enough, it was the same boy that had attempted to pick his pockets in the upper market. He had dark scruffy hair, a cheeky grin on his face, and skinny arms and legs extending out of muddy rags. Whoever this kid was, he sure did seem to get around, but he didn't think it was a coincidence that he was catching the same boy around Magpie. If he was after her because he thought she was an easy mark, or worse yet, to get to _him_ …

Then he saw Magpie duck into an alleyway between a general goods store and the local pawn shop, and Qrow began to get worried. Had she noticed the other boy? Was she trying to lose his trail? He flapped his wings, following after her, gaining altitude to get a better vantage point, and eventually found Mag leaning against the alley wall.

What was she doing? Was she _trying_ to get caught? Qrow readied himself to swoop in in case she should need a helping hand, when he heard the boy calling out to her.

"Mag," his voice was hushed. "Mag, it's me."

Magpie's eyes came up as he approached her, widening in recognition.

"Jackdaw!" she exclaimed, running up to him and throwing her arms around him. "It's really you! I was so worried about you!"

Qrow felt a deep welling pit growing in his stomach. This was an unexpected development. Who was this Jackdaw kid, anyway? He was aware that kids growing up in the slums tended to form bonds of convenience, but _his_ little girl was far too young to be involved in any sort of relationship.

Then the boy put his hands on her little shoulders.

"Sorry, sis," he said in a remorseful tone. "Ever since mom died, I…"

Qrow banked suddenly, nearly missing a collision with an awning. He had to flutter his wings to steady himself, and finally settled down to perch in a ledge above where the two kids were speaking.

They were siblings! Qrow could hardly believe it! Noire had _another_ kid he wasn't aware of! He hadn't even _thought_ to bring up the possibility with Magpie, but here they both were! It was difficult to judge at this range, but the two of them looked pretty close in terms of age. Either this kid was a half-brother by another father, he was adopted, or Magpie had been just unlucky enough to have a twin brother to deal with.

While Qrow collected his thoughts on just what this revelation might imply, the two kids continued to whisper to each other in conspiratorial voices which, thankfully, his bird ears were carefully attuned to picking up.

"Where've you been all this time?" Magpie demanded in a protective tone.

"The boss has been lookin' out for me," the boy assured her.

Qrow's ears pricked up at that word. Boss? Just what kind of mischief were these kids involved in anyway?

Magpie seemed to bristle at her brother's words.

"Jackie, I don't like that man," she said in a frightened voice. "Mom always told us that Corvo and the the Blackbirds are dangerous. You shouldn't hang around them anymore."

Qrow mulled over that name. He hadn't heard of anyone named Corvo anywhere in town, but he _had_ seen a black bird logo spray painted here and there across the slums. From the boy's description, they sounded like a local gang.

Jackdaw pulled away from his sister.

"Mom's dead, Mag!" he blurted, seemingly unafraid of being overhead anymore. "We gotta look after each other now. Corvo can keep us safe. The Blackbirds can be our home now."

Magpie was shaking her head.

"I've…I've found someone else who can help us, Jack," she said, hesitantly. "He's a Hunstman. He knew our mom. I think…I think he might know who our dad was too."

A sharp twinge of pain ran through Qrow's heart. The words she'd used were "our dad." It seems they were twins after all. Twins borne of a twin. What were the odds? Of course, given his luck, it was no surprise. That made _two_ kids he had left to fend for themselves.

At her words, Jackdaw's expression changed to one of anger.

"I don't care _who_ our dad was, Maggie!" he blared. "He _left_ us! He doesn't care about us! We've gotta find our own way now!"

Qrow had to stop himself from flying right down there to interject. But if he revealed his hand here and now, neither one of them would appreciate learning that he was spying on them, and he couldn't afford to lose Magpie's trust if this was the type of mess that her brother was entangled in. Besides, he had not been a part of these kids' lives for ten whole years. What right did he have to step in now?

Magpie looked like she was about to cry.

"I'm just worried about you, Jackdaw," she said in a muffled voice. "I don't want to see you get hurt. Please don't hang around the Blackbirds anymore."

Jackdaw shoved his hands into his pockets.

"It's outta my hands now, sis," he said in a resigned tone. "They're makin' a move tonight at midnight. Got a big score planned. They want you there."

Qrow felt a chill run down his spine at the boy's words. What was this kid trying to get his little girl involved in?

Magpie seemed similarly resistant.

"No, Jackdaw," she shook her head. "You know I hate working for Corvo. All he ever wants is for me to steal stuff for him."

Qrow felt his blood beginning to boil.

"That's all _anyone's_ ever gonna want from you," Jackdaw said, cruelly. "News flash, Magpie – that power of yours is the only thing that anyone's ever gonna care about. As long as people know about it, you're just gonna be a target. If you don't get in line with the Blackbirds while the gettin's good, someone _worse_ is just going to come callin' after you. And they're not going to ask so nicely."

Qrow saw tears beginning to trickle down Magpie's face, and he was about ready to fly down there and smack this boy upside the head.

"Don't make me do this, Jackdaw," she whimpered. "I hate working with the Blackbirds! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it!"

His sister's words seemed to soften the boy's heart somewhat.

"I'm just doin' this to protect you, sis," he assured her. "The Blackbirds look after each other. That's the best deal either of us are gonna get. The best we can do is throw our lot in with 'em and hope for the best."

"And I'm telling you, we don't _need_ the Blackbirds anymore!" Magpie pleaded with her brother. "You can come with me and stay with Qrow!"

Jackdaw took a step back, shaking his head warily.

"That's right," he said, nodding smugly. "You got yourself a nice, friendly Huntsman to take care of you and buy you stuff now. That jacket looks pretty nice, sis. Bet that cost your Huntsman friend a pretty penny."

Magpie clutched the hem of her jacket nervously. "I…"

"That's how it always starts, doesn't it?" Jackdaw continued. "How long do you think it's going to last, huh? How long until he gets bored and tries to foist you off on someone else, huh? Just like all those foster homes we been in?"

Qrow was reeling. How much time had passed since Noire's death? Months? Years? He hadn't wanted to bring up such a sore topic with Magpie, but heavens above, how long had these kids been shuffled about, unwanted and unloved? It was small wonder they had fallen in with local gangs. It was doubtful, especially with Magpie's power, that any foster home would have kept her for long. But a street gang? A kleptomancer would be an invaluable asset on the streets of Mistral. Qrow was beginning to feel like it was nothing short of a miracle that Magpie had found her way to his doorstep.

Magpie couldn't respond to Jackdaw's accusatory tone, and he finally backed off.

"Go back to your Huntsman if you like," he griped. "I'm sticking with the Blackbirds. But if you were any kind of sister to me, you'd come and help me out tonight."

Magpie reached out to the boy, but he was already turning to go.

"Jackdaw, wait!" she begged. "Please, don't go!"

Her brother was already disappearing down the alleyway, and after a moment of indecision, Magpie went running after him. She ran full tilt, turned through a series of corners, finding no trace of him.

"Jackdaw!" she shouted in a panic. "Jackdaw!"

Her voice echoed through the slums, her words spilling out as she plunged blindly forward. The sun was already setting, and the alleyway was all but devoid of any light to guide her. She stumbled over piles of trash and waved her hands through steam being vented from the surrounding buildings, before finally running headlong into someone standing in her path.

WHUMP!

She slammed her fists into the man, not even bothering to turn her eyes to look up at him, pounding his chest furiously with her tiny hands. A pair of arms came up around her and held her tightly, and she found herself sobbing into his coat.

"Hey, hey…" Qrow said in a soothing voice, holding the girl steady. "It's okay kid. It's okay."

Qrow's resolve had finally wavered. Magpie didn't ask why he was there, or how much he had heard. She just continued to weep and wail, unable to utter anything intelligible as he simply held her there, stroking her shoulders.

"It'll be okay, Mag," Qrow promised her, crouching down to look into her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere. We'll figure this out, alright? We'll find your brother before he does anything stupid, okay?"

Magpie looked back at him, her eyes full of tears, her heart swimming in a sea of conflict.

"Qrow…" she whimpered, tremulously.

Qrow ruffled her hair, smiling back at her.

"I get it, okay?" he told her. "Your brother sounds like a real piece of work, but I get it – he's still your brother, and you've got to take care of him. I get it. We'll work on it together, okay? So no more crying. We'll figure this out. I promise."

Magpie simply pressed herself into his embrace, trembling in fear and pent up emotion. There was so much she wanted to tell him, and so much that she was afraid to give voice to. But for now, she was simply glad he was here.

Not knowing what else to do, Qrow scooped the girl up into his arms and began to make his way out of the alley, carrying her as she continued to tremble and shake. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her, but couldn't give voice to any of them for fear of breaking the poor girl's heart.

And so the two simply remained in silence together as he carried her through the slums of Mistral. And they stayed that way all the way until they made it back to the inn.


End file.
